What did I do last year?

Ellen Juhlin: As 2018 is still just getting started, I wanted to take a look back at the things I did last year, partially to remind myself what’s possible to do in a year, but also to think about how I’ve been spending my time and how I might want to change that going forward. The biggest shift in 2017 was that I spent a lot more time on art and Making Things, and that definitely had a positive effect on my baseline happiness throughout the year. So, what have I built?

It’s Time for Stunt Work to be Recognized by The Academy

Filmmaker Magazine: I’m fortunate to work in action and with stunts, behind the camera. The stunt community is comprised of all kinds of talent — drivers, motorcycle riders, gymnasts, fighters, parkour, Cirque du Soleil acrobats and much more. They are the best of the best! I’ve been even more fortunate to train and work with the best stunt coordinators, innovators, riggers and performers in Hollywood.

Exploring Deflection

www.flyhouse.com/blog: Simply put, deflection is when something bends. In this video, Flyhouse explores the elastic range, plastic range, and yield point of different pipes used for rigging to see what impact a pull test has on them.

Grammy President ‘Regrets’ Telling Women in Music to Step Up

www.vulture.com: Recording Academy chief Neil Portnow has clarified his controversial statement about the Grammy’s decades-long failure to acknowledge and award female musicians. When asked about it after Sunday night’s show, Portnow told a reporter that “[women need] to step up because I think they would be welcome,” a statement that incited ire from musicians and fans alike.

Ryobi 18V Brushless 3-Speed Impact Driver is Making an Impact

Home Fixated: We are so excited to be home but so exhausted. Luckily for me, we got to try out an inexhaustible Ryobi Impact Driver that made the home improvements part of moving much easier.

Home Depot sent us the Ryobi 18-Volt One+ Brushless 3-Speed Impact Driver (Model P238) to review, and the timing could not have been better. It is just the perfect impact driver for homeowners and even certain pro’s (more on that later).

The coolest music gadgets at NAMM 2018

The Verge: Anaheim’s National Association of Music Merchants (NAMM) show featured plenty of traditional instruments, but as always, there was also a lot of cool music tech. From pro DJ hardware to gadgets that upgrade the instruments you already own to innovative music education tools and apps, NAMM showed that now, more than ever, the worlds of music and tech are intersecting in interesting ways.

SiriusXM Announces New Limited Series, ‘The Hal Prince Talks’

The BroadwayBlog: SiriusXM announced today a new limited-run series, The Hal Prince Talks, featuring conversations with Tony Award winners Harold (Hal) Prince and Hamilton producer Jeffrey Seller. This 3-part series launches on Tuesday, January 30, at Noon ET.

Bojack Horseman Creator Finally Addresses Diversity Problem

The Mary Sue: Raphael Bob-Waksberg, the creator of Netflix’s Bojack Horseman, knows that there’s a big problem on his show. Namely, that the character of Diane, who is supposed to be Vietnamese, is voiced by Alison Brie, who is white. This issue has been brought up in fan circles plenty of times before, not only in relation to this show, but throughout animation. Yet, according to Bob-Waksberg, no one’s brought the conversation directly to him, until now.

What Is DMX?

LightSoundJournal.com: Even if you are brand new to the stage lighting industry, you will have almost definitely have heard the terms DMX, ArtNet and RDM. For those new to the technology, these can often be confusing concepts. In this article, we’ll go right from the basics of these terms through to an in-depth look at their technical aspects.

8 Things Considered at NAMM 2018

The Pro Audio Files: The NAMM Show this year was spectacular and exhaustive as usual. A generally bewildering array of everything you can imagine including the very strange interspecies mating of a wind and brass instrument as seen below.

“The Absolute Brightness of Leonard Pelkey” at City Theatre

The Pittsburgh Tatler: On the other end of the spectrum from Rules of Seconds is the one-person show The Absolute Brightness of Leonard Pelkey, by James Lecesne. Where the former features a spectacularly aggressive display of alpha-male peacocking, the latter centers on the story of a gentle teenager who, given the chance, would adorn himself with peacock feathers and flutter through the school hallways kicking up his custom rainbow platform sneakers.

Female Execs Respond to Neil Portnow’s ‘Step Up’ Semi-Apology

Variety: Grammy chief Neil Portnow made headlines for all the wrong reasons shortly after the show ended on Sunday night, answering a Variety reporter’s question about how female artists, who garnered a very low number of nominations and wins, can move forward in years ahead.

Opening Doors with Broadway Producer Greg Nobile

OnStage Blog: Tony-winner Greg Nobile has produced shows on Broadway like “A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder ,” the revival of “Sideshow” and the current, site-specific “Sweeney Todd” at the Barrow Street Theater. He has invested in musicals like “Dear Evan Hansen,” “Fun Home” and “Spongebob Squarepants .” He has produced multiple shows in the West End, including the Imelda Staunton-lead revival of “Gypsy,” and the film “India’s Daughter.” He is the managing director of Legacy Theatre , a fledgling company on the shoreline of Connecticut, and runs Flying Horse Hospitality, a group that recently opened their first restaurant and are already working on their second. Did I mention that Greg is 25 years old?

CHILDREN OF A LESSER GOD's Joshua Jackson and Lauren Ridloff to Speak at TEDxBroadway

www.broadwayworld.com: Organizers announce today the complete lineup for TEDxBroadway, the one-day event exclusively dedicated to asking, "What's the Best Broadway Can Be?" Included in the panel are stars of the upcoming Broadway run of Children of a Lesser God Joshua Jackson and Lauren Ridloff.

#GrammysSoMale, #MeToo, and What Happens to Women Who 'Step Up' in Music

The Atlantic: Dealing with sexual harassment by Russell Simmons “was a full-time job,” Drew Dixon, a former executive at the record company Def Jam, told The New York Times recently. Simmons, the label boss, would so frequently expose himself to Dixon, she alleged, that she gave a spare key to her office to another coworker so that they could intervene whenever Simmons entered her workspace and unzipped. “It was exhausting,” she said. “It was like making a record while swimming in rough seas.” Still, she scored a huge hit by co-producing the 1995 soundtrack for The Show. Shortly afterwards, she said, Simmons raped her.

High School Production of HUNCHBACK Cancelled Following Outcry Over Casting Diversity

www.broadwayworld.com: The Ithaca High School production of THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME has been cancelled following an outcry over the lack of diversity in casting.

The Ithaca Journal reports that students complained when a white actress was cast in the role of Esmerelda, a part intended to be portrayed as a Romani person living in 15th century Paris.

Spotlight – Howard Berger

Cinefex Blog: Howard Berger is co-owner of makeup effects company KNB EFX Group, which specializes in character prosthetics, animatronics and creatures. Howard’s film credits number in the hundreds and include The Chronicles of Narnia, Kill Bill, Lone Survivor, Hitchcock, Oz the Great and Powerful and Army of Darkness.

Stage review: City Theatre's powerful 'Leonard Pelkey' becomes a story felt, not just told

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: Inevitably, right from the start, it’s all about the performance. Yes, there’s a story, but that seems mainly the pro-forma framework on which to erect the one-man performance through which Keith Randolph Smith plays Detective Chuck Desantis, who tells the story and portrays all the characters in it.

That’s our focus: the actor at work, and good, solid work it is.

The Stop-Motion Puppets of Aardman Animations!

Tested: Adam Savage visits Aardman Animations' workshop to get up close with some of the beautiful stop-motion animation puppets used in the studio's upcoming film Early Man. Aardman senior model maker Jimmy Young walks us through some of the modelmaking processes that go into these puppets' sculpts, clothes, and armatures!

Stage review: Wickedly funny 'Rules of Seconds,' about dueling and machismo, opens in Braddock

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: The audacious play “Rules of Seconds” takes aim and fires at what today we call “toxic masculinity” — in this case, tragically misplaced machismo in the guise of honor — and the indomitable women who prop up their guys and pick up after the messes they leave.

Pittsburgh Playwrights warms the winter blues IN THE HEAT OF THE NIGHT

'Burgh Vivant: Acclaimed playwright Matt Pelfrey’s adaptation of John Ball’s award-winning book In the Heat of the Night, which inspired the Oscar-winning film and the Emmy-winning television series, is still as pertinent and poignant as it was when the novel was written in 1965.

Terry Gilliam reveals how he created his Monty Python animations

Boing Boing: Gilliam shares how he made his animations. It's a complete course in cut-up animation in 15 minutes! I wish I'd seen this many years ago.

3D Printed Battery Pack Keeps Old Drill Spinning

Hackaday: The greatest enemy of proprietary hardware and components is time. Eventually, that little adapter cable or oddball battery pack isn’t going to be available anymore, and you’re stuck with a device that you can’t use. That’s precisely what happened to [Larry G] when the now antiquated 7.2V NiCd batteries used by his cordless drill became too hard to track down. The drill was still in great shape and worked fine, but he couldn’t power the thing. Rather than toss a working tool, he decided to 3D print his own battery pack.

Recording Academy President Clarifies His 'Women Need to Step Up' Grammys Comment

jezebel.com: On Monday Neil Portnow, Recording Academy president and CEO, told press that women artists who wanted to be engineers, producers, musicians, needed to “step up” because they’d be more than welcome. He said this after a particularly dismal Grammy awards in which only one woman, Alessia Cara, took home an award for her work alone.

Pink: Women Have Been "Stepping Up" Forever

The Mary Sue: Singer Pink took to Twitter to express her anger after the Recording Academy president, Neil Portnow, said that female artists need to “step up” if they want equal representation at the Grammys.

How do you ruin 'Joseph'? Try setting it in Vegas

Chicago Tribune: There’s a Broadway story about “The Lion King.” Julie Taymor, the conceptualist genuis, first wanted, in Act 2, to take Simba and his crew to Las Vegas. After they picked their chins up off the floor, the Disney brass set about keeping the action in Africa, rather than on the Strip. It wasn’t that hard, they just said “No.”

Prize launched for thrillers that avoid sexual violence against women

The Guardian: From Before I Go to Sleep to The Girl on the Train, the trope of the woman in danger from a man has powered novel after novel to the top of the book charts. But claiming that violence against women in fiction has reached “a ridiculous high”, a new prize is being launched for the best thriller “in which no woman is beaten, stalked, sexually exploited, raped or murdered”.

VIDEO: No Me Diga! Watch the Original Cast of IN THE HEIGHTS Reunite For a Panel at BroadwayCon

www.broadwayworld.com: The original cast of In the Heights reunited? No me diga! To celebrate 10 years since the show opened on Broadway, Lin-Manuel Miranda and the original stars of In the Heights reunited for a panel at BroadwayCon yesterday. Check out the full panel below, featuring Lin-Manuel Miranda (Music & Lyrics, Usnavi), Karen Olivo (Vanessa), Olga Merediz (Abuela Claudia), Javier Muñoz (original Ensemble, Usnavi), Alex Lacamoire (Musical Director), and more original stars of In the Heights!

Drury Lane’s reimagined, diva-narrated ‘Dreamcoat’ celebrates musical theatre’s many dreams

www.chicagolandmusicaltheatre.com: Led by Director Alan Souza, whose vision made Drury’s 2014 Camelot spectacularly unforgettable, this Joseph moves from a distant land and time to a hotel room overlooking the strip in the entertainment capital of the world today. The well-known Genesis story of Joseph and his brothers is told via the handsome, wholesome dreaming traveler (played by Evan Alexander Smith), with brothers and scantily-clad Vegas showgirls popping out of every imaginable drawer or door.

VIDEO: It's the Best Day Ever! Watch the Full BroadwayCon Panel With the Cast of SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS!

www.broadwayworld.com: It's a beautiful Bikini Bottom Day! The cast of Spongebob Squarepants came together for a panel at BroadwayCon today, January 27. Check out the full panel in the video below, featuring Ethan Slater (Spongebob Squarepants), Danny Skinner (Patrick Star), Gavin Lee (Squidward Tentacles), Wesley Taylor (Plankton), and Brian Ray Norris (Mr. Krabs)!

New Jeremy Piven Sexual Misconduct Allegations From Three Women

Variety: Former “Entourage” star Jeremy Piven has been accused of sexual misconduct by three more women in instances that allegedly occurred between 1985 and 1996.

According to a report from BuzzFeed News, each of the women — one of whom preferred not to be identified — claim to have experienced aggressive sexual advances from Piven, including being pinned on a couch and against a wall. One of the women says that Piven exposed himself to her in his Los Angeles home after a consensual encounter turned aggressive.

No, No, No, Joseph: A Review of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat at Drury Lane

Newcity Stage: When I arrived to see Drury Lane’s production of “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat,” I anticipated writing the sort of review where I express that while it isn’t my cup of tea, some people are into musical adaptations of Bible stories and those people should live their best lives.

Alas, my evening was destined to be full of squirmy discomfort while I sat soberly watching the theatrical manifestation of my personal hell.

Get Out now has its own online class about black horror

The Verge: Jordan Peele’s Oscar-nominated film Get Out now has its own webinar. It’s called “The Sunken Place: Racism, Survival, and Black Horror Aesthetic,” based on the UCLA course on black horror put together by Professor and author Tananarive Due and her husband, science fiction writer and lecturer Steven Barnes last year.

3D, volume-filled imagery created with hovering dots

Ars Technica: All sorts of 3D-imaging technologies tend to get lumped under the label "hologram." But there's actually a variety of distinct technologies that can create the appearance of depth. Now, we can add another to the list: the photophoretic-trap volumetric display. The device uses one set of optical hardware to control the motion of a tiny sphere and a second set to illuminate the sphere as it travels.

Fractured feminism and “Citizen Rose”

Salon.com: Earlier this month when Rose McGowan appeared before reporters at a press event in Pasadena, Calif., one journalist asked McGowan whether a show such as her five-part documentary series “Citizen Rose,” debuting Tuesday at 8 p.m., could have landed at a network like E! if it were introducing an everyday person or an unknown activist.

Watch ESCAPE TO MARGARITAVILLE, GETTIN' THE BAND BACK TOGETHER, and THE PROM Perform at BroadwayCon

www.broadwayworld.com: BroadwayWorld was live at BroadwayCon's First Look event, which got fans excited for the new season with performances and news from Broadway's upcoming shows. The event gave us a first look at upcoming Broadway shows and a taste of next year's hits today!

Why the 'West Side Story' Remake Is an Important Opportunity

The Mary Sue: If you love musical theater, it’s likely that West Side Story is a big part of that love. If you love musical theater and you’re Puerto Rican (like me!), West Side Story has a particular significance as one of the first times you ever heard anyone talking about Puerto Ricans that much outside your own home. So, I was thrilled to learn that the classic Broadway show, which became a classic film, is now being remade for the screen.

“Rules of Seconds” at barebones productions

The Pittsburgh Tatler: I’ve come to expect that a barebones production will involve, at some level, an investigation of masculinity. Barebones’ artistic director Patrick Jordan seems drawn to plays that feature hyper-masculine characters – a character type he clearly revels in playing – yet, to his great credit, his productions are uncannily adept at shining a light on the absurdity and toxicity of hyper-masculinity, even as they offer a sympathetic peek into the inner drives and external pressures that shape men’s behavior.

NFTRW Weekly Top Five

Here are the top five comment generating posts of the past week:

What happens if you insult a Morning Joe ‘technician’

MSNBC: Sam Stein learns a thing or two about what happens if you blame the 'technician.'

Posted by David at 1/22/2018 12:22:00 PM

3 Damaging Career Beliefs You Need To Give Up Right Now

www.fastcompany.com: Just a few months ago, I was having a conversation with a friend who was considering trying her hand at full-time freelancing. Over coffee, I ran through all of my standard advice, tips, and encouragement, and then offered her the floor–expecting her to jump right in with the routine questions I’ve grown so used to answering.

Posted by David at 1/23/2018 12:42:00 PM

How “Wonder Woman 2″ is already making history

Salon.com: Sexual harassment and assault in the workplace has been front and center in the news cycle since at least October. Now, after listening to stories ranging from the infuriating to the horrific offered by women and men from Hollywood and beyond, some are finally addressing the systematic problem in systematic ways.

Posted by David at 1/23/2018 12:44:00 PM

Assassination of Gianni Versace Costume Designers Use Original Clothes

Variety: Having dispatched the O.J. Simpson saga, Ryan Murphy’s “American Crime Story” anthology series now turns its second-season attention to a controversial fashion titan with “The Assassination of Gianni Versace,” which debuted Jan. 17 on FX.

While working on this installment of the series, costume designers Lou Eyrich and Allison Leach developed a deeper appreciation of the late designer’s artistry as they researched his garments and accessories at the FIDM Museum & Galleries in downtown Los Angeles — home to the Versace Menswear Archive.

Posted by David at 1/26/2018 11:25:00 AM

Silver Ain’t Steel – But It Can Be! How To Paint A Faux Steel Effect

Rosco Spectrum: I thought the first time I was asked to paint a full faux metal set was a fluke, a once in a blue moon event that would be fun and challenging. Well I was wrong. I have since been asked to paint four more faux metal sets – making it five total in the past three years.

Posted by David at 1/23/2018 12:43:00 PM

Foreo: The Craziest CES Booth Ever?

www.livedesignonline.com: One might ask what a Swedish beauty care company is doing at CES—Consumer Electronics Show—where one expects the gadgets of the future, but boy did Foreo raise eyebrows with the theatricality of their show, from the sound of chainsaws to gas fumes, and vials of pink liquid offered by scientists in white lab coats for visitors brave enough to imbibe. The booth caused quite the uproar with long lines to be part of The Foreo Experience in Las Vegas, January 7-12, 2018.

How to drill holes through glass

Boing Boing: Chris Notap bought some cheap hole-cutting bits on eBay and tried them out on a pane of glass, a mason jar, a ceramic bathroom tile, a mirror, and a coffee mug. The results are nice.

Study: Music's Greatest Gender Disparity is in the Studio

Rolling Stone: A new study by the USC Annenberg Inclusion Initiative finds that over the last six years, women have been vastly underrepresented in popular music. The study analyzed 600 songs from the Billboard Hot 100 released between 2012 and 2017 and found only 22 percent of those songs were by female artists. Even fewer songs – 12 percent – had female songwriting credits. The culprit, the findings suggest, may be in the recording studio.

Assassination of Gianni Versace Costume Designers Use Original Clothes

Variety: Having dispatched the O.J. Simpson saga, Ryan Murphy’s “American Crime Story” anthology series now turns its second-season attention to a controversial fashion titan with “The Assassination of Gianni Versace,” which debuted Jan. 17 on FX.

While working on this installment of the series, costume designers Lou Eyrich and Allison Leach developed a deeper appreciation of the late designer’s artistry as they researched his garments and accessories at the FIDM Museum & Galleries in downtown Los Angeles — home to the Versace Menswear Archive.

How a Tennis Match Changed the Conversation

Theatre Development Fund – TDF: It's fitting that a coed creative team decided to theatricalize the 1973 "Battle of the Sexes" tennis match between 29-year-old women's champion Billie Jean King and misogynistic 55-year-old huckster Bobby Riggs. Cowritten and codirected by two male-female pairings, Balls is a circus sideshow take on an iconic event that sparked gender debates that are still going today.

Kim Weglin & Ryan Jenks Wedding: Must-See Photos & Full Story

collegecandy.com: Couples are getting more and more creative in picking out a wedding venue. Gone are the traditional days when most couples would get hitched at a church, in a backyard or at a family’s home.

Couples are upping the ante and this couple will be hard to beat. They said “I do” on a literal rope net. You know, a net made out of ropes. Oh, and it was suspended above a canyon.

Salt Lake City's Eccles Theater: A Spectacle of Sights and Sounds

Wenger | J.R. Clancy: The George S. and Dolores Doré Eccles Theater is Salt Lake City’s newest performing arts center in the heart of downtown.

Designed by world-renowned Pelli Clarke Pelli Architects, the theater features a grand six-story lobby with dramatic retractable glass walls. It is a beacon of light and energy on Main Street. Yet, there were several challenges in designing a multi-use hall that could accommodate the needs of various performers.

A major grant is big boost for the arts at the Paramount Theatre in Aurora

Chicago Sun-Times: Call it the triumph of the performing arts over the dicey rewards of a casino stage.

If ever proof were needed that the arts are a major economic engine, the wildly successful Broadway Series of the Paramount Theatre in Aurora (which was launched in 2011, and currently attracts 320,000 patrons annually to its shows), would be “Exhibit A.”